ASTRONOMY. 29 



termined relatively to the sun. ... In the brief time allotted 

 it was not practicable to change the eye-piece and observe 

 the star in question under a higher power. Its light was 

 quite red, and, so far as my recollection of its appearance 

 in the telescope will enable me to determine, I am of the 

 opinion that it was situated beyond the sun. . . . 



" In regard to the star B, which I consider to be the planet 

 sought, there is no uncertainty whatever, beyond the una- 

 voidable errors of the record as made. I consider the place 

 given to be trustworthy. ... I have further observations of 

 contacts, and also some sketches of the corona made by 

 members of my party, which I will send you in due season. 

 Meanwhile, I doubt not that yon will agree with me that the 

 observations above detailed establish the existence of one 

 new star in the vicinity of the sun, and point possibly to the 

 existence of two." 



Professor Watson is now inclined to believe that both of 

 the new objects seen by him are planets. 



Mr. Swift's observations were made at Denver. He says : 

 "About one minute after totality I observed two stars, by 

 estimation three degrees southwest of the sun, pointing to- 

 wards the sun, of about the fifth magnitude, or what I esti- 

 mated at the time, as bright through the telescope as Polar- 

 is is to the naked eye. How much allowance ought to be 

 made in estimating magnitudes so close to a totally eclipsed 

 sun I do not know. I saw them three times, and attempted, 

 at the last moment, to get another observation ; but at the 

 critical moment a little cloud passed over the sun, and I has- 

 tened to observe again the sun for the third contact and at- 

 tending phenomena. At each of the observations, by care- 

 ful comparison, they appeared exactly of the same magni- 

 tude, and both as red as Mars. I looked closely for twink- 

 ling, but they were as free from it as the planet Saturn. 

 They both, at the time, seemed to my eye and mind to have 

 a small round disk about like the planet Uranus. Whether 

 the disks were imaginary or real I cannot tell, but every 

 time I saw them (the stars) the disks attracted my atten- 

 tion." 



Professor Pliny E. Chase writes to the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution that "Gaillot's orbit for Watson's second intra-Mer- 

 curial planet represents his tenth subsidence-node [f Jupiter 



